Tuesday, March 17

Type 300+ words.

What are the differences within that lead some people to do selfish deeds of savagery while others do unselfish deeds of integrity? 

What savagery do we see in the Mad Max film trilogy? 

What integrity do we see in this trilogy?

Monday, March 16

Type 200+ words about the parallels of Mad Max 3: Beyond Thunderdome to our current world.

Do we have power struggles in politics?

Do we neglect our youth?

Are destined to destroy?

How are these questions related to the film?

March 10

Write about one term as it relates to the apocalyptic novel and films we are studying. Each table has a different term.

Northwest: Trust

Midwest: Decency

Southwest: Love

Northeast: Fear

Mideast: Hope

Southeast: Community

Write 200+ words about your single term, then showtime.

Tom Hardy as Max in Fury Road, out on May 15!

February 26

Expand on your February 24 blog task, not just repeating words and information, but elaborating with detail and additional insight. Also, predict what Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior and Mad Max 3: Beyond Thunderdome will be like/about. If you have seen these two movies, discuss your opinion of them--and compare them with the novel The Road. Work on The Road study guide on Google Drive when done with this blog task. Type 300+ words for today's blog task.

February 24

In what five ways is Max Rockatansky highly similar to the dad in The Road?

In what five ways is Max Rockatansky different from the dad in The Road?

February 23

Type no more than the length of a tweet (140 characters, not 140 words) about Cormac McCarthy's The Road. Make sure each character, each word counts. No useless, empty words. Generate full power with each character you type.

February 19

Actor Robert Duvall as Ely in the movie.

Write 300+ words to react to the Ely section of the novel (pages 161-175).

1.) What's the wisest thing Ely says? Why is it wise?

2.) What's the weirdest thing Ely says? Why is it weird?

3.) What does McCarthy accomplish by including Ely in his plot?

February 9

Please write about the movie (we'll watch the very end again) as it relates to the novel, comparing and contrasting in 300+ words. Earn credit by trying, caring, investing effort to improve your critical thinking skills. Thank you for your effort.

February 3

Click on a link about The Road at the right side of this blog page. Read it, summarize it in 45-50 words, then write 300+ words in response to what you read. (Pictured is Oprah Winfrey, a famous woman who helped make this novel extremely famous.)

February 2

What other apocalyptic stories (books, short narratives, films...) do you know? How are they similar to/different from The Road? Is the author/director trying to teach us the same lessons--or different lessons? You could use The Giver, WALL-E, and/or any other stories you know. This is a picture from the movie Book of Eli, which we will watch if a student acquires it (it's in our library). Write 300+ words today to compare and contrast. 

January 27

1.) Type five awesome sentences from The Road (with page numbers). Why have you selected these five?

2.) Type five other sentences, this time of the puzzling/confusing nature (with page numbers). Why have you selected these five sentences as "puzzling"?

TYPE THE SENTENCES LIKE THIS: "He looked like someone trying to feed a vulture broken in the road" (163).

January 22 to prepare for February 20

Click on this link to view what you'll do February 20 to prepare for life beyond BVHS. Listen to Mrs. Hartz with great focus.

Tuesday, January 20

Add 300+ words to what you wrote Friday. We'll then discuss.

Friday, January 16

What are your three favorite statements from the prezi or the viewing notes? Why?

What are your three least favorite statements from the prezi or the viewing notes? Why?


Are there hyenas and lions in this school? Explain. 300+ words, just like all blog tasks.

Tuesday, January 13

Type about two claims/observations about The Lion King (involving literary criticism and theoretical approaches and lenses) I've expressed to you, one you agree with and another you disagree with. Find these claims/observations on the prezi, viewing notes, or from what I've said in class.

Type 300+ words.

Tuesday, January 6

1) What was the best part of first semester?

2) What was the worst part of first semester?

3) Have you seen The Lion King? What do you remember about it?

4) Type one sentence from The Road and explain why it is a cool sentence.

5) What is best part about Lego technical writing?

6) What is the worst part about Lego technical writing?



Type 300+ total words to fulfill these tasks.

Paste Directions Here!

Please place directions here, for another avenue of sharing information.

Technical Writing Blog Task 4--due April 23

Write 300+ words about the merits of technical writing practice. When/where/how will you use skills you develop when rehearsing technical writing? Attach some sort of information found on SDMyLife to earn credit.

Technical Writing Blog Task 3--due April 16

1.) In 300+ words, reflect on your writing improvement. What specifically have you worked on to communicate most effectively with a reader who is obviously outside your head and doesn't "know what you mean" automatically?

To explain her ideas, Lois Lowry had to think long and hard, indeed.

Technical Writing Blog Task 2--due April 10

1.) Type 15 super-specific, accurate, helpful words or phrases that have helped you achieve the absolute best results when crafting your sculptures. (Great examples include words like "perpendicular" and phrases like "covering each remaining gray peg.")

2.) Explain why 7 of these words work far better than poorer options. To earn full credit on any blog task, you must write 300+ words.

Technical Writing Blog Task 1--due April 8

1.) Locate a terrific sample of technical writing. Paste the link here.

2.) Summarize the content, telling the rest of us what this sample explains.

3.) Explain why the technical writing sample you found is exceptional. You should type 300+ words for this task.

Images from actx.edu and erikjohanssonphoto.com.

Thoughts Thursday--due February 28

Select a single standard to work on in 300+ words:


KEY IDEAS AND DETAILS
RL.11-12.1 Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inference drawn from the text, including determining where the text leaves matters uncertain.

RL.11-12.2 Determine two or more themes or central ideas of a text and analyze their development over the course of the text, including how they interact and build on one another to produce a complex account; provide an objective summary of the text.

RL.11-12.3 Analyze the impact of the author's choices regarding how to develop and relate elements of a story or drama (e.g., where a story is set, how the action is ordered, how the characters are introduced and developed).

CRAFT AND STRUCTURE
RL.11-12.4 Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone, including words with multiple meanings or language that is particularly fresh, engaging, or beautiful. (Include Shakespeare as well as other authors.)

RL.11-12.5 Analyze how an author's choices concerning how to structure specific parts of a text (e.g., the choice of where to begin or end a story, the choice to provide a comedic or tragic resolution) contribute to its overall structure and meaning as well as its aesthetic impact.

RL.11-12.6 Analyze a case in which grasping point of view requires distinguishing what is directly stated in a text from what is really meant (e.g., satire, sarcasm, irony, or understatement).

INTEGRATION OF KNOWLEDGE AND IDEAS
RL.11-12.7 Analyze multiple interpretations of a story, drama, or poem (e.g., recorded or live production of a play or recorded novel or poetry), evaluating how each version interprets the source text. (Include at least one play by Shakespeare and one play by an American dramatist.)

RL.11-12.9 Demonstrate knowledge of the eighteenth-, nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century foundational works of American literature, including how two or more texts from the same period treat similar themes or topics.

RANGE OF READING AND LEVEL OF TEXT COMPLEXITY
RL.11-12.10 By the end of grade 12, read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and poems, at the high end of the grades 12-CCR text complexity band independently and proficiently.

Thoughts Thursday--due January 24

What concept we discussed these past two weeks, whether briefly or at length, struck you as particularly fascinating and relevant?  Type 300+ words extending our discussion(s) to your life experiences and the world's vastness.  Connect to Mad Max, as well.

Agree. Disagree. Expand. Seek. Wonder. Ask. Muse. Doubt. Affirm. Connect. Confirm. Share. Research. React. Respond. Analyze. Assess. Align. Judge. Realize. Think. Discover. Explore. Extrapolate. Ponder.  

Thoughts Thursday--due January 10

  

What concept we discussed this past week, whether briefly or at length, struck you as particularly fascinating and relevant?  Type 300+ words extending our discussion(s) to your life experiences and the world's vastness.  

Agree. Disagree. Expand. Seek. Wonder. Ask. Muse. Doubt. Affirm. Connect. Confirm. Share. Research. React. Respond. Analyze. Assess. Align. Judge. Realize. Think. Discover. Explore. Extrapolate. Ponder.  

Where are the best, most imagistic sections?--due Tuesday

Type 3 separate sections--exactly as they are--of poems and explain why they are extremely effective at creating images in your mind. What details help you imagine? What combinations of words work particularly well?

Which poem "speaks" the most to you?--due Monday

To which of these famous poems do you most connect? Why? Type 200+ words here, explaining your connection to this poem, which you must mention by name with its author.

Practice Blog Task--Performed in class Tuesday, August 30

Type 100+ words expressing an epiphany (or "aha" moment) you experienced during our study of The Lion King. Which lens is most helpful or revealing for you? What have you learned from the "Lenses 101" flexbook I made for you? What has been the most interesting thus far?

Also, in a separate comment, sincerely compliment a classmate's work in class or on this blog task.

Read & Respond--due Friday, March 11

Click on a link at the right hand of your class blog. Read the article, review, or essay written about The Road. Then, respond to what you read with 200+ words, agreeing, disagreeing, complimenting, and criticizing the article, review, or essay and the author.

Include the title and author's name of the article, review, or essay you select.

Haiku Heroes

Post your haiku here for extra credit.

Senselessness in The Road--due Friday, February 11

Type a paragraph/section from The Road here, selecting a passage that is not mere description or dialogue. Select a passage that seems entirely senseless or pointless--a passage that "doesn't make sense." Then, attempt to make sense out of the passage by answering these questions in 200+ words:

What meaning can you create?

What can you infer from the passage?

What symbology can you extract?

What major themes are likely present?

What can you pull out from "reading between the lines"?